Aside from textbooks and cookbooks, I haven't been doing a whole lot of reading over the past few years. I like pretty much anything by Kurt Vonnegut, Roger Zelazny, and Aldous Huxley. Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books were pretty sweet. Someone should make similar stories for a (slightly) more mature audience, someday.
My taste in movies is fairly eclectic, I think. I'll just rattle off a list of films that I've enjoyed: The Last Man on Earth, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Warriors, UHF, Meet the Feebles, I Married a Strange Person!, Riki-Oh, Caddyshack, Ravenous, The Evil Dead, Aliens, 28 Days Later, The Shining, Apocalypse Now, Easy Rider, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, City of God, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Good Will Hunting, Dead Alive, Gladiator, Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, 1408, American Psycho, Three o'Clock High, Save the Green Planet!, The Running Man, Spaceballs, Old Boy, Lady Vengeance, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Ninja Scroll, Fist of the North Star, The Dirty Dozen, The Outsiders, Wicked City, A Christmas Story, Strange Brew, Shaun of the Dead, Team America: World Police, Forrest Gump, Dawn of the Dead, The Princess Bride, Freddy Got Fingered, Big Trouble in Little China, Cool Hand Luke, The Host, Fight Club, 300, Rocky, Hot Tub Time Machine, Snatch, Shutter Island, Airplane, Iron Monkey, Ip Man, Shogun Assassin, The Big Lebowski... that's about all I can think of.
As far as TV shows are concerned, I'm really not too big on sitcoms or reality shows. Here's a list of shows that I like: That Mitchell and Webb Look, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021, Wainy Days, Xavier: Renegade Angel, Planet Earth, The Twilight Zone, Mr. Bean, Portlandia, Lost, The Universe, Ren and Stimpy, Wildboyz, Jackass, Metalocalypse, The Ricky Gervais Show, Human Giant, Cosmos, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Wonder Showzen, The Kids in the Hall, Louie, Monty Python's Flying Circus... I'd also like to add that I'm big on nature documentaries and anything science-related, really. Louis C.K., Mike Birbiglia, Bill Burr, George Carlin (R.I.P.), and Patrice O'Neal (R.I.P.) are a few of my favorite comedians.
Music is definitely a big part of my life, always has been. Unfortunately, I can't sing and never learned how to play an instrument, so I rely on the talents of others to get my fix. Here's yet another list of bands and musicians, many of whom you've probably never heard of and/or wouldn't like: Johnny Cash, Kill Your Idols, Minor Threat, Misfits, Mission of Burma, Cancerslug, Sloppy Seconds, The Virus, Dwarves, Pink Floyd, The Generators, Crippled Black Phoenix, Ween, XIV Dark Centuries, Social Distortion, The Replacements, Raised Fist, Conflict, Pitboss 2000, North Side Kings, Black Messiah, Big f**kin Skull, Perkele, Bad Religion, Poison Idea, Cheap s*x, The Bruisers, The Varukers, Hurriganes, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, The Staggers, c**k Sparrer, Riot Squad, Ensiferum, The Steeldrivers, The Business, Aeon, Anti-Nowhere League, Dead Boys, Fats Domino, Franz Schubert, Tiger Army, Sam Cooke, Slapshot, Jerry's Kids, Abrasive Wheels, Wolfpack/Wolfbrigade, Felix Mendelssohn, Stiff Little Fingers, God is an Astronaut, Explosions in the Sky, Dion and the Belmonts, Radio Birdman, Mogwai, The Meteors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Against Me!, Haggis, Collapse Under the Empire, Alice in Chains, The Quakes, Angry Johnny and the Killbillies, Franz Liszt, The Wipers, Dirty Three, This Will Destroy You, d**ks, Gorilla Biscuits, Pre-Black Album Metallica, Slayer, Smog, Cat Power, Angry Samoans, Circadian Eyes, The Matadors, Wu-Tang Clan, Hateful, Blood or Whiskey, Ghosts and Vodka, The Shins, Gang Starr, Caspian, Gene Chandler, Whiskey Rebels, The Waterboys, Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, Pavement, Silkworm, Cap'n Jazz, Miles Davis, Zombeast, The Beastie Boys, The Terrornauts, Leonard Cohen, The Pixies, One Man Army, GBH, Beach Fossils, Neutral Milk Hotel, Angelic Upstarts, c**kney Rejects, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Chron Gen, On File, Son House, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Yo La Tengo, John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, Bo Diddley, M. Ward, X-Ray Spex, Little Willie John, Descendents, The Cure, The Ramones, Geto Boys, The Del Fuegos, Ludwig van Beethoven, Fugazi, Bob Marley, Jim Croce, Leadbelly, Blitz, Elliott Smith, The Murder City Devils, The Church, Doctors of Madness, U.S. Bombs, Motorhead, Callisto, Archers of Loaf, Van Morrison, Magnetic Fields, Del Shannon, Neil Young, The Beach Boys, Weezer, Iron Maiden, Greenland Whalefishers, Iggy and the Stooges, The Germs, The Dead Popes, The Clash, Flipper, Russian Circles, Bukka White, Otis Redding, Black Flag, FEAR, Naked Raygun, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Jeff Buckley, Santo and Johnny, Sonic Youth, The Vibrators, Meat Puppets, Amebix, Bobby Day, Guns 'n Roses, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, John Denver... etc.
I love cooking, almost as much as I love eating. I'd act like a total health snob and wouldn't disclose how much I love stuff like pizza, cheeseburgers, french fries, tacos and Chinese food, but that would be dishonest. Don't get me wrong; I do enjoy eating healthful foods, but I'm not going to refrain from the occasional or semi-frequent guilty pleasure. It's all about moderation. Japanese, Thai, Italian, Mexican, French, and Traditional American cuisine are some of my favorites.
